Georgia Tech to start online cybersecurity master’s degree program

Georgia Tech announced Thursday it’s starting an online master’s degree program in cybersecurity, hoping to help fill what many labor economists say is a void of jobs in the field.

The program will start in January, with Tech admitting 250 students. The tuition will be $10,000, which Tech officials say is lower than other nationally-ranked programs. Georgia Tech is partnering with edX, an online learning center created by Harvard University and MIT in 2012.

The program is designed to serve working professionals who can study part-time and earn the degree within two to three years, Tech officials said.

The United States will have 265,000 more cybersecurity jobs than skilled workers by 2022, according to the (ISC)² Center for Cyber Safety and Education. Cybersecurity job postings have increased by 71 percent between 2012 and 2017. More than 40,000 Georgians now work in the field, state officials noted when it opened a cybersecurity center in July.

Georgia Tech has put an emphasis on online learning in recent years, which has helped boost enrollment. Georgia Tech’s enrollment has increased by 36 percent since 2012, from 21,558 students in 2012 to 29,369 students last fall.

The cybersecurity program is the third such program for the Midtown Atlanta campus. The others are in analytics and computer science.

“Georgia Tech remains committed to our mission as a public, technological research institution, and the traditional, residential experience will remain the core of our mission,” Georgia Tech provost Rafael Bras said in a statement. “But the Georgia Tech for the next generation must be transformed by redefining the fundamental approach to educational delivery. We call this approach the Georgia Tech Commitment to a Lifetime Education, and it envisions continual engagement with learners that extends from kindergarten to forever.”